A Randomised Controlled Trial Evaluating an Alternative Mouse and Forearm Support on Upper Body Discomfort and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Engineers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Conlon CF ; Krause N ; Rempel DM
• Description:
  Objectives: The aim of this intervention study was to determine the effects of an alternative mouse and/or a forearm support board on the change in upper body discomfort scores and the development of incident musculoskeletal disorders. Methods: This randomised controlled intervention trial followed 206 engineers for one year. Participants were randomised to receive (1) a conventional mouse only, (2) an alternative mouse only, (3) a forearm support board, or (4) an alternative mouse plus forearm support board. Outcome measures included weekly upper body discomfort scores and incident musculoskeletal disorders. Results: During the study, 42 participants were diagnosed with an incident musculoskeletal disorder. The group that received the forearm support board experienced a reduction in their right upper extremity discomfort (beta-coefficient -0.35, 95% CI -0.67 to -0.03) in comparison to those who did not receive a forearm board. The group that received the alternative mouse had a protective, but non-significant (p = 0.20), effect on incident cases of right upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.34) and a non-significant reduction in neck/shoulder discomfort (beta-coefficient -0.23, 95% CI -0.056 to 0.10) in comparison to those who received a conventional mouse. Conclusions: In engineers who use a computer for more than 20 h per week, a forearm support board may reduce right upper extremity discomfort attributed to computer use. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Computers Engineering Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Laboratories Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Poisoning Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Biological-effects Biological-function Biomechanical-engineering Biomechanical-modeling Biomechanics Cell-biology Cellular-reactions Computer-equipment Engineering-controls Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Laboratory-testing Mathematical-models Mechanics Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Nervous-system-disorders Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Physiological-effects Physiological-measurements Physiological-response Poison-control Quantitative-analysis Risk-analysis Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Tissue-disorders Work-environment Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  311-318
• Volume:
  65
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037267
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2007 May; 65(5):311-318
• Contact Point Address:
  David M. Rempel, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 1301 South 46th Street, Building 163, Richmond, CA 94804
• Email:
  david.rempel@ucsf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:64b6500ffa425e60bec76a492caab47783b63a1b81e6782e799eafa6f27b4b73b764f0495777d9dae346a148ac41339898aefde1fa9c31e8e4da1df6e2562505
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188384/cdc_188384_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 236.36 KB ]